The Economy

Lord Jackson of Peterborough Excerpts

Tuesday 11th December 2012 Commons Chamber

[Danny Alexander]

I have not had a recent conversion to capital expenditure. The hon. Gentleman will remember that in the spending review in 2010, we committed over £2 billion a year more to capital expenditure than had been set out in the previous Government’s plans. In the autumn statement last year we added £5 billion and in this year’s autumn statement we added another £5 billion for a range of projects. I hope that he will recognise that the Building Schools for the Future programme was expensive and bureaucratic. The proposals that have been brought forward by the Department for Education are a better and more cost-effective way to meet at least some of the needs in the school system in this country.

[Mr Stewart Jackson (Peterborough) (Con)]

On the subject of apologies, will my right hon. Friend invite Her Majesty’s loyal Opposition to apologise for the debt millstone of the private finance initiative in the national health service, which amounts to more than £63 billion? The right hon. Member for Morley and Outwood (Ed Balls) is aware of that, because it was all about hiding the debt off balance sheet and ensuring that our children struggle with it. [Interruption.]

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Dawn Primarolo)]

Order. I am sorry to interrupt the hon. Gentleman. We will not have shouting across the Chamber and we will not have wagging of fingers, even from a Whip. Have you finished, Mr Jackson?

[Mr Jackson]

I am sure that my right hon. Friend will agree with my analysis of PFI.

[Danny Alexander]

My hon. Friend adds another item to the long list of items for which the people of this country deserve an apology from the Labour party. We have had no such apology yet, but we live in hope. Perhaps the shadow Chief Secretary will begin her speech with an apology for the many and various mistakes. [Interruption.]

--- Later in debate ---

[Danny Alexander]

Not off the top of my head, but I dare say that hon. Members on the Government Benches can speak for themselves. I have, however, heard a number of objections to the structure of PFI contracts. In fairness to the right hon. Gentleman, the PF2 model is not designed to abolish PFI and can play an important role in developing new projects. We want to strip away some of the most egregious features such as facilities management costs—a couple of years ago the Treasury was going to be charged several thousand pounds by the PFI holder for putting up a Christmas tree. That issue was resolved but it is a small example of the excessive costs involved. In Treasury questions earlier today the Chancellor gave an example concerning the cost of changing a light bulb in a hospital in Cumbria.

I am sure that on reflection the right hon. Member for Holborn and St Pancras (Frank Dobson) would agree that reforming PFI to strip out some unnecessary features such as facilities management costs and so on, and having a simpler, clearer model in which the taxpayer can share in any gains, is a big improvement. I hope that when he has looked at what is being proposed, he will welcome it.

[Mr Stewart Jackson]

My right hon. Friend may wish to comment on the fact that another example of Labour prudence was spending £250 million on private contractors in the NHS for operations that were never carried out.